In this episode of The Ryan Holtz Show Podcast, I have the pleasure of bringing on Brandon Sewell who is The Canadian Lead for The Black Inlsuion Group also known as BIG.Brandon joined me via Skype from San Francisco but is based in Toronto, Ontario. Brandon’s tenacity and tact when it comes to helping businesses with their talent acquisition along with trying to raise awareness on diversity and inclusion at LinkedIn makes for this as a complete value bomb!

Brandon is a Corporate Sales professional representing LinkedIn in the Mid-Market Enterprise space in Canada. Brandon works with my clients to help them achieve their talent management goals by leveraging the power of LinkedIn’s 500M person network. Based out of Toronto, his experience has been primarily in Technology Sales & Recruitment. 7 months ago, he assumed the position of the Canadian lead for the Black Inclusion Group (BIG), an Employee Resource Group (ERG) at LinkedIn. Most recently, Brandon joined the Executive Committee that has put together the Black Professionals in Technology Network (BPTN) in Canada. Being someone who has grown up around all different walks of life, Brandon understands the benefits that a diverse environment can have on people.

Summary & Shownotes:

1. How Brandon losing his father to cancer (God rest his soul) shaped certain aspects of his character and tenacity
2. Why and how he managed to finesse his way into a job at LinkedIn
3. Why LinkedIn as a company is really focused on all aspects of diversity and inclusion
4. Why and what BIG (Black Inclusion group) is the goal and mandate that it has
5. Tips and tricks on how to make your LinkedIn professional profile stand out in a sea of clutter
6. What the day to day environment of LinkedIn is like to work daily in
7. How LinkedIn is focused on brand internally and externally
8. In today’s world, we are all walking brands and not just employees even if we have a classic “job”
9. Technology and how it impacts corporate recruitment and training

We chatted about several things when it comes to LinkedIn and being a minority and how to chase and tactfully try to achieve your dreams. This is a great listen!

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I recently had the pleasure of participating in Ryan’s workshop during our annual, National education committee meeting. Ryan’s high energy and enthusiastic presentation instantly intrigued our group; I would confidently recommend him to anyone seeking an innovative and exciting seminar! Ryan is forward thinking and offers progressive marketing solutions, we are very excited to be working with him throughout 2017!

I have attended three of Ryan’s automotive marketing courses and I hope to have the opportunity to go to even more! It’s great to learn from someone who is knowledgeable about the newest marketing strategies and who delivers the information with such enthusiasm. Ryan teaches the content in a way that is easy for everyone to understand, and also shows how to apply the concepts within the dealership’s marketing strategy. My social marketing has improved exponentially since attending his courses an…

Mattie ElliottMarketing & Promotions ManagerLethbridge Dodge

The power of relationships in Social Media is indescribable until you witness it first hand. I had the pleasure of connecting with Ryan when he received honours & mentions for his outstanding work at Zender Ford.
Instantaneously, we connected & found commonalities in thinking, hobbies & socks. Yes…socks. In my conversations with Ryan, he definitely exudes knowledge, wisdom, energy & enthusiasm in what he does & who he connects with.
By building a relationship online, Ryan & I simply wait…

Asif PremjiGeneral ManagerOkotoks, AlbertaOkotoks Honda

Ryan was a great help to my project! I would not hesitate to recommend him. Please contact me if you require any information

Bernie LeBlanc

Working with Ryan Holtz Marketing over the past year has been a game changer for our business. Getting us to be competitive and relevant with social media, educating our staff and managers, giving us the knowledge we need to perform are some of the tools we have acquired. Ryan’s energy and passion for what he does shines through and is infectious!!

Andrea MayerOwnerJiffy Lube

Ryan is energetic about his work, extremely friendly and can be counted on to ensure expert execution in all aspects of his work.

Carol McBee

As a business partner, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ryan in his role of Marketing Manager at Zender Ford. A true marketing professional, Ryan keeps his finger on the pulse of current technology and has used this experience to develop a well-rounded and customer focused marketing strategy at Zender Ford. He values the quality of the relationship with the end customer above all else, and it shows in his attention to detail and to the quality of every project delivery he’s engaged in.

Ryan has a huge passion for what he does in his marketing strategies stimulating growth in any business him touches. He has a keen sense of what a company or person’s needs are, assesses the current path and lays out a new strategy that entails goals followed by a pragmatic approach resulting in a road map to success. Ryan’s skills are very dynamic and the way he will tailor them to a specific need is incredible, fueled by his passion is quite unique showing immediate results and exposure for yo…

Brenda Dubilowski

Ryan is vibrant, passionate and imaginative. He has volunteered his time to local organizations in order to share his knowledge and expertise. He has embraced his business community and continues to reach out to customers and business colleagues alike to engage them. I’m really glad to have had the opportunity to meet and work with him, and look forward to more exciting ventures in the future!

Michelle Thiebaud, Owner of Cartridge Express, Self-employed

We had Ryan as our keynote speaker at the Rifco National Auto Finance Dealer Conference in Whistler. His presentation was insightful, engaging, relevant and most importantly fun. He provided our clients with an assortment of tools they can take back to their business. Ryan’s energy and excitement was infectious and provided so much value to our conference. Thank you Ryan.